You are here

NIORDC Says Imported Gasoline Quality Superior

Gasoline imported into Iran can qualitatively compete with the one distributed in European countries, said the head of Oil Engineering and Development Department in the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company
"Imported gasoline meets Euro-4 standards," Seyyed Ali Momeni also told Shana on Saturday.
Dismissing speculations linking air pollution to the distribution of low quality fuels in mega cities, the official added that if the media had covered the achievements of NIORDC's engineers in setting up fuel quality enhancement units in refineries, such idle speculations would not have circulated.
Referring to the fact that the implementation of quality improvement plans normally takes up to four years, the official noted that NIORDC engineers managed to undertake several projects simultaneously, notwithstanding the financial crisis rooted in sanctions.
According to Momeni, more than 19 million liters of Euro-4 gasoline are distributed in Iranian metropolises daily.
The official also said NIORDC is ready to collect samples from gas stations to be analyzed in laboratories, if called upon by the Iranian National Standards Organization or Iran’s Department of Environment.
"There is tangible proof that gasoline distributed in Iran enjoys a better quality than the one distributed in some EU member states, as whatever is imported into Iran must meet Euro-4 standards and be approved by the Iranian National Oil Company's international affairs experts," he said.

Stringent Standards
Saeed Mahjoubi, the head of quality control at NIODC, has recently said the Iranian National Standards Organization, Air Quality Control Company and municipalities closely monitor gasoline production in Iranian refineries.
“Random samples of domestic gasoline are taken [by these organizations] and sent to major international laboratories, including one in Germany, for further testing,” he said.
Mahjoubi said measures have been taken to raise gasoline production quality to Euro-4 standards at Tehran, Abadan, Arak, Isfahan, Tabriz and Bandar Abbas refineries.
According to some reports, regular gasoline in Iran has an octane number of 92 and the number for premium gasoline, marketed as Super, is 95.
INSO officials say the octane number should be between 95 and 98 to be within the acceptable rating limits.
Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation fuel. In simple terms, a higher octane number indicates higher quality of gasoline.
The official dismissed reports that average gasoline production has dropped by 6 million liters a day.
“Iran has produced an average of 58-60 million liters per day of gasoline in the past few days,” he said, adding that average gasoline output in the past nine months stood at 58 million liters a day, slightly lower than last year’s levels.
Mahjoubi noted that daily gasoline production increased by up to 5 million liters in the past 2-3 months this year because of a surplus of naphtha in Abadan and Bandar Abbas refineries as well as the idle processing capacity of some other refineries.
Data show that gasoline output rose from 50 million liters a day in 2012 to 58 million and 60 million liters per day in the following two years, respectively.

Contributing Factors
Hossein Amiri-Khamkani, the spokesman of Majlis Energy Commission, told ISNA that gasoline is only one of the many factors that exacerbates air pollution.
“A set of factors, including weather conditions and fuel burnt in heating systems and vehicles, are involved in this issue,” he said.
The spokesman noted that most heating systems used in domestic and services sectors are not standard.
“Pollution stems partly from automobiles, for which automakers and high fuel consumption are responsible,” he said.
Khamkani believes pollution is created mostly because of the household use of gas in winter.